Alcohol Withdrawal And Abdominal Distention

When an alcoholic gives up drinking, he or she should be prepared for the alcohol withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms can be mild or severe, depending on how long the person was an alcoholic and how much he or she used to consume.

Some of the most common symptoms of alcohol withdrawal are perspiration, not being able to get relaxed night of sleep, pain in the stomach, and feeling tensed and restless. If the person was an advanced alcoholic, then he or she will get a condition known as delirium tremens. This condition is characterized by trembling followed by a seizure. Usually, after the first 24 hours, the withdrawal symptoms are the worst and this can last for another 72 hours. Thereafter, after seven to ten days, majority of the symptoms disappear.

In case a person wants to stop drinking alcohol, he or she should consult a doctor or a rehab center. At times, doctors may be willing to give the person a tranquilizer so that the person does not feel the worst of the withdrawal symptoms.

However, it is important to know that alcohol also causes large scale damage to the various organs in the body. Usually, it is the liver that is responsible for breaking down the alcohol. Hence, in an alcoholic, liver damage is obvious. The amount of damage depends on how long the person was consuming the alcohol and how much. The person may have an enlarged liver, enlarge spleen, alcoholic hepatitis, or a condition known as fatty liver. All these can cause the abdominal region to feel distended and bloated.

In addition, the person's digestive system is adversely affected due to continuous drinking. The person may suffer from retention of water which could lead to abdominal distension and bloating of the stomach. When a person consumes too much alcohol, it causes the mouth, esophagus as well as the stomach to swell up and get inflamed. This can also lead to cancer, especially in those people who drink as well as smoke. Alcohol causes the stomach to produce more enzymes for digestion and this can cause irritation to the lining of the stomach leading to ulcers, nausea, heartburn and/or gastritis. It has also been seen that alcoholics have slow digestion and as a result there is always presence of food in the stomach. In other words, the stomach does not get empty. This can lead to build up of gas resulting in abdominal distension.

Invariably, alcoholics do not notice any of the aforementioned symptoms. Hence, they do not know what havoc they are wreaking to their bodies. When they decide to give up alcohol, all these problems come to the forefront causing more problems along with the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Hence, very often people who are undergoing therapy for alcoholism associated alcohol withdrawal with abdominal distension.

Many people complain of abdominal distension and want to know what causes it. One of the main causes of abdominal distension is suddenly introducing more fiber into your diet. This fiber comes from fruits and vegetables. In case this is the reason for the distension, then you will have to stop eating these foods and make an effort to introduce them into your diet slowly. As your body gets used to eating the increased fiber, you will no longer suffer from abdominal distension. More..